Key Bible Verse: … Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God (Matthew 5:24). Bonus Reading: Psalm 85:1-7

I had to make things right with this fellow and his family. So I got in my car and drove to his house. Then I drove past his house. After I drove past it again, I got up the nerve to park in the driveway, walk up to the door, and ring the doorbell—hoping nobody would answer.

But the man came to the door and looked at me with a confused look. Rightly so. We were never close friends. And I hadn't seen him in years. "Andy, what in the world are you doing way out here? Come on in."

I was dying. As soon as I sat down, I blurted out, "I've come to apologize."

He just stared at me. I told him what I'd done, and how sorry I was. He kept staring. He didn't get angry and knock me across the room or call the police. I certainly deserved it. I told him that, too.

When I finished, he said, "You know, Andy, I had a feeling it was you. This makes me feel good all over."

Now you have to understand, I'd carried this for years. And all along this person had a hunch I was behind an event that had caused him a great deal of pain and expense. I saw release in his eyes. The healing process was complete. We all had a good cry, and I left.

—Andy Stanley in Louder Than Words

My Response: I can identify with Andy's relief because …

Thought to Apply: When the soul has laid down its faults at the feet of God, it feels as though it had wings. —EUGÉNIE DE GUÉRIN (French writer)

Adapted from Louder Than Words (Multnomah, 2004) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Forgive me, Lord, for presuming to receive deliverance from the penalty of sin without an all-out effort to cooperate with You in escaping its power.

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